The Christian Vision of Sex, Honoring those who Disagree and the Hope that we will one day understand each other

As a follower of Jesus one of the most important things in my life is walking what I call the "tight-rope of balance" - where I do my best to fully consider the implications of Scripture both in how it speaks to my worldview and in how I should treat people. As such I understand the Christian life as a call to hold 2 things in tension - where we are to walk the line of both embracing the Distinguishing Factors of the Faith even when they are misunderstood/considered controversial but doing so in a way that doesn't allow us to lose sight of the blessing that the people that God puts in our lives are even when they disagree with us on those points.

In saying this I want to affirm that I believe the Christian Vision of Sex and Family. Which is that God created sex for the context of the marriage covenant between one man and one woman. All forms of sex outside of this are sin. This includes adultery, fornication (where 2 unmarried people have sex), homosexuality and even extends further to pornography and even to lusting after a woman who is not your wife in your heart. 

I also want to affirm that I believe in a God-centered understanding of personal identity.  Which is to say that our gender (male or female) has been given to us by God and is part of the way that He shaped us in our mother’s womb. While there are many things that we may not like about our bodies/lives and would wish to change, we both honor God and find personal peace by accepting how He made us and coming to terms with the unchangeable circumstances we find ourselves in. He is the Potter and we are the clay and to seek to change how He made us is to quarrel with our Maker.

There is no disconnect between the God who created mankind and the God who has laid down the moral standards for sex that are expressed in the pages of Scripture. The same God who created human beings also gave us our concept of family and it is in the context of family that sexual morality is best understood.

This starts off with an understanding of nature and biology. Rather than having us reproduce as isolated entities through some kind of budding/self-division process like Mitochondria, God gave men and women reciprocal sex organs that when engaged in intercourse with one another have the potential to create a new life. Thus, every new person that comes into the world will have been born out of the intimate connection of their mother and father.

This intimate act creates a deeply powerful bond that joins people together in a cement-like way within their souls. While friendship and fellowship can be achieved via conversation, sex is the deepest level of closeness that one can have with another to the point that the souls of those engaging in this act become connected to some degree at an emotional and spiritual level (1 Corinthians 6:16).

The God who formed the human soul understands how painful betrayal is. The closer the connection, the more painful the betrayal. And as such He calls us to stick with our spouses and to refrain from any sexual activities outside of those with our husband or wife. Our battle against betrayal is even to be waged with what our eyes see and what our hearts fantasize about, where even the most subtle seed of infidelity is to be guarded against out of loyalty to God and from love for our spouse.

This is further shaped by an understanding of human/child psychology where studies have shown that children who grow up in a house with both parents are on average emotionally healthier than those who were not blessed in this way.

In short God ordained sex for family. Where the loving, loyal, committed, monogamous relationship between a man and a woman is both healthy for the lovers themselves and a good environment for the children they share.  Making it so that children are able to be born into a nurturing, protective, loving environment that will enable them to grow up with a sense of identity that comes from knowing those from whom you came.

And it is this vision that God had in mind when He gave mankind His commands about sexuality in the pages of Holy Scripture.

In putting this forth though I feel it's important to add that I understand that there are many who do not hold to the Christian Faith and as such do not follow its teaching. In the same way that I don't think less of a Muslim for not believing that Jesus is God or an Agnostic for not believing that God has clearly revealed Himself so I don't think less of people who don't follow the Biblical standards of sexuality. While I disagree with the Muslim and the Agnostic on those points I still recognize that such individuals often display compassion and morality that can eclipse even those in the Church. If you don't think that's theologically sound read the Parable of the Good Samaritan - which is about a person from a different religion displaying greater compassion than dedicated believers.

The LBGT community is commendable in many ways and I think that those of us in the Christian Faith can learn alot from the grateful and celebratory approach to life that I have seen within it. And while the nature of my beliefs and my understanding of the eternal consequences for denying Jesus lead me to earnestly pray and hope that people will see the beauty of the Gospel as I have, I at the same time recognize that many people do not and I respect them in that. My hope is that if someone is not persuaded as to the veracity of the Gospel that they find happiness in the path they choose for their life. I pray that they have deeply fulfilling relationships and that as they approach an old age that they are able to look back on their life with a sense of satisfaction.

My hope is that in the coming years that we will come to respect and understand each other more fully and that we will be able to move past our differences and see each other for the blessing that we can be to each other's lives.

Let it be so Lord.